Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin, (1922-1985
I. Life of Philip Larkin
Larkin was born in the city of Coventry. From 1930 to 1940 he was educated at King Henry VIII School in Coventry and, in October 1940, in the midst of the Second World War, he went up to St John's College, Oxford, to read English language and literature. Having been rejected for military service because of his poor eyesight, he was able, unlike many of his contemporaries, to follow the traditional full-length degree course and attained a first-class honours degreein 1943. While at Oxford he met Kingsley Amis, who would become a lifelong friend and frequent correspondent.
Philip Larkin was born on 9 August 1922 in Coventry, the only son and younger child of Sydney Larkin (1884–1948), who came from Lichfield, and his wife, Eva Emily Day (1886–1977) of Epping He lived with his family in Coventry, until he was five years old.From 1927 to 1945 the family home was 1 Manor Road, a large three-storey detached house near the city centre that would be demolished in the 1960s to make way for Coventry's inner ring road. His sister Catherine, known as Kitty, was 10 years older than him. His father, a self-made man who had risen to be Coventry City Treasurer, was a singular individual who combined a love of literature with an enthusiasm for Nazism, and had attended two Nuremberg rallies during the mid-'30s. He introduced his son to the works of Eliot, James Joyce and above all D. H. Lawrence. His mother was a nervous and passive woman, dominated by her husband.
Larkin's childhood was at first unusual: neither friends nor relatives ever visited the family home, and he was educated by his mother and sister until the age of eight. Despite this and the stammer he had already developed, when he joined Coventry's King Henry VIII,Junior School he fitted in immediately and made close, long-standing friendships with James "Jim" Sutton, Colin Gunner and Noel "Josh" Hughes. Although home life was relatively cold, Larkin enjoyed support from his parents. For example, his deep passion for jazz was supported by the purchase of a drum kit and a saxophone, supplemented with a subscription for Down Beat, the first of Larkin's many jazz magazines. From the junior school he progressed to King Henry VIII Senior School. Aged 16 he fared quite poorly when he sat his School Certificate exam. However, he was allowed to stay on at school, and two years later earned distinctions in English and History, and passed the entrance exams for St John's College, Oxford, to read English.
Philip Larkin
II. Time Period- War World II
Larkin began at Oxford University in October 1940, a year after the outbreak of World War II. The Brideshead Revisited image of university life had at least for the time being faded, and most of the male students were studying for highly truncated degrees. However, thanks to his poor eyesight, Larkin failed his military medical and was able to study for the full three years. Through his tutorial partner, Norman Iles, he met Kingsley Amis, who remained a close friend throughout Larkin's life and encouraged his taste for ridicule and irreverence. Amis, Larkin and other university friends formed a group they dubbed "The Seven", meeting to discuss each other's poetry, listen to jazz, and drink enthusiastically. During this time he had his first real social interaction with the opposite sex, but made no romantic headway.[10] In 1943 he sat his finals, and, having dedicated much of his time to his own writing, was greatly surprised at being awarded a first-class honours degree.
In autumn 1943 Larkin was appointed librarian of the public library in Wellington, Shropshire. It was while working there that in the spring of 1944 he met his first girlfriend, Ruth Bowman, an academically ambitious 16-year-old schoolgirl. In autumn 1945, Ruth went to continue her studies at King's College London, and during his visits to her there the couple started sexual relations. By June 1946, Larkin was halfway through qualifying for membership of the Library Association and was appointed assistant librarian at University College,Leicester. It was while visiting Larkin in Leicester and witnessing the Senior Common Room that Kingsley Amis found the inspiration to write Lucky Jim. Six weeks after his father's death from cancer in March 1948, Larkin proposed to Ruth, and that summer the couple spent their annual holiday touring Hardy country
III. Most Famous Works The North Ship
The Less Deceived
The Whitsun Wedd
High Windows
"The Explosion"
"The Building"
"Aubade"
"A Study of Reading Habits"
"Home is So Sad"
"Born Yesterday"
"The Whitsun Wedding"
And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower This Be the Verse"
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie. "Mr. Bleaney"But if he stood and watched the frigid wind Tousling the clouds, lay on the fusty bed
Philip Arthur Larkin, (1922-1985
I. Life of Philip Larkin
Larkin was born in the city of Coventry. From 1930 to 1940 he was educated at King Henry VIII School in Coventry and, in October 1940, in the midst of the Second World War, he went up to St John's College, Oxford, to read English language and literature. Having been rejected for military service because of his poor eyesight, he was able, unlike many of his contemporaries, to follow the traditional full-length degree course and attained a first-class honours degreein 1943. While at Oxford he met Kingsley Amis, who would become a lifelong friend and frequent correspondent.
Philip Larkin was born on 9 August 1922 in Coventry, the only son and younger child of Sydney Larkin (1884–1948), who came from Lichfield, and his wife, Eva Emily Day (1886–1977) of Epping He lived with his family in Coventry, until he was five years old.From 1927 to 1945 the family home was 1 Manor Road, a large three-storey detached house near the city centre that would be demolished in the 1960s to make way for Coventry's inner ring road. His sister Catherine, known as Kitty, was 10 years older than him. His father, a self-made man who had risen to be Coventry City Treasurer, was a singular individual who combined a love of literature with an enthusiasm for Nazism, and had attended two Nuremberg rallies during the mid-'30s. He introduced his son to the works of Eliot, James Joyce and above all D. H. Lawrence. His mother was a nervous and passive woman, dominated by her husband.
Larkin's childhood was at first unusual: neither friends nor relatives ever visited the family home, and he was educated by his mother and sister until the age of eight. Despite this and the stammer he had already developed, when he joined Coventry's King Henry VIII,Junior School he fitted in immediately and made close, long-standing friendships with James "Jim" Sutton, Colin Gunner and Noel "Josh" Hughes. Although home life was relatively cold, Larkin enjoyed support from his parents. For example, his deep passion for jazz was supported by the purchase of a drum kit and a saxophone, supplemented with a subscription for Down Beat, the first of Larkin's many jazz magazines. From the junior school he progressed to King Henry VIII Senior School. Aged 16 he fared quite poorly when he sat his School Certificate exam. However, he was allowed to stay on at school, and two years later earned distinctions in English and History, and passed the entrance exams for St John's College, Oxford, to read English.
II. Time Period- War World II
Larkin began at Oxford University in October 1940, a year after the outbreak of World War II. The Brideshead Revisited image of university life had at least for the time being faded, and most of the male students were studying for highly truncated degrees. However, thanks to his poor eyesight, Larkin failed his military medical and was able to study for the full three years. Through his tutorial partner, Norman Iles, he met Kingsley Amis, who remained a close friend throughout Larkin's life and encouraged his taste for ridicule and irreverence. Amis, Larkin and other university friends formed a group they dubbed "The Seven", meeting to discuss each other's poetry, listen to jazz, and drink enthusiastically. During this time he had his first real social interaction with the opposite sex, but made no romantic headway.[10] In 1943 he sat his finals, and, having dedicated much of his time to his own writing, was greatly surprised at being awarded a first-class honours degree.
In autumn 1943 Larkin was appointed librarian of the public library in Wellington, Shropshire. It was while working there that in the spring of 1944 he met his first girlfriend, Ruth Bowman, an academically ambitious 16-year-old schoolgirl. In autumn 1945, Ruth went to continue her studies at King's College London, and during his visits to her there the couple started sexual relations. By June 1946, Larkin was halfway through qualifying for membership of the Library Association and was appointed assistant librarian at University College,Leicester. It was while visiting Larkin in Leicester and witnessing the Senior Common Room that Kingsley Amis found the inspiration to write Lucky Jim. Six weeks after his father's death from cancer in March 1948, Larkin proposed to Ruth, and that summer the couple spent their annual holiday touring Hardy country
III. Most Famous Works
The North Ship
- The Less Deceived
- The Whitsun Wedd
- High Windows
- "The Explosion"
- "The Building"
- "Aubade"
- "A Study of Reading Habits"
- "Home is So Sad"
- "Born Yesterday"
"The Whitsun Wedding"And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower
This Be the Verse"
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
"Mr. Bleaney"But if he stood and watched the frigid wind Tousling the clouds, lay on the fusty bed
Wikipedia.http;//www.wikipedia.com
Reference Guide to English Literature
PoetsAcademy of American Poets<http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/176>